By now your child has definitely started school and is settling into a new routine. He or she is adjusting to spending most of their day away from you, and learning many skills on their own in the company of their peers and teachers. This period of your child's development is very important because he or she is learning how to do things on their own, for themselves. They are learning how to become self-sufficient little people, instead of small beings who always need your help. Your child will still need your help, care and supervision, but you may find your relationship changing throughout their childhood. Embrace it!

What your child can see, hear and feel:

At this stage in their development, your child is learning how to examine things, but may be able to understand only one side of things. For example, it is normal for a child at this age to believe that a tall, narrow bottle contains more juice than a short, wide bottle. This is because he or she is only processing the height of the bottles without taking their width into account. Their reasoning will improve, and this is a good start!

Your child will also know his or her full name, age and address. They will be able to answer many direct questions, such as who, what, when, where and why. This makes them much easier to communicate with and more understandable for you and others.

Social and emotional development:

At this stage, your child understands good and bad behavior and is starting to understand standards for behavior and performance. He or she is learning to use these standards, such as grades or scoring goals to measure their performance. It is important to have good standards for your child but to make sure that he or she understands that you love them regardless. This is essential for making sure that your child is building a healthy self-esteem. At this age your child is beginning to compare his- or herself against other people's expectations. How other children view your child will greatly affect his or her self-image.

Your child might enjoy being with you at home more at this age, then he or she did when they were younger. But it's a good idea to increase times when you and your child are separated so that your child can become more independent. Healthy ways to arrange this for your child are to have solo visits to grandparents or friends houses.

Gross motor skills:

Your child is becoming ore graceful, more agile and is getting much better at coordinating their own body. He or she can group a series of motions and do them one after the other almost seamlessly. His or her visual-motor coordination will also improve and they are able to catch balls more easily. You can even increase the challenge by playing with smaller balls.

Fine motor skills:

By the age of 7, your child should be able to tie his or her own shoes. It's a good idea to teach your child. The easiest way for him or her to remember is to associate the actions with a story. If your child hasn't had a chance to learn before, this is the age to introduce shoes with laces. Your child should be physically ready and able to learn.

Speech and language development:

At stage in his or her development, your child should be able to communicate effectively with everyone he or she encounters. His or her pronunciation should have improved over the last while, and should be able to say all of the more difficult sounds, including "v", "j", "sh," "ch", "r", "l", "s", "th" and "str" sounds like in the words "victory", " judge", "shush", "child", "rabbit", "little", "six", "thirteenth", and "street"

6-year milestones

• Body coordination increases. Better able to engage in activities like jump rope, roller-skating, hopscotch, and hoola-hoop. Increased ability to run, jump, throw and climb.
• Exhibits lots of energy and seems to be constantly in motion.
• Prints the alphabet and can write own name, but writing is large and letters may be reversed.
• Enjoys taking things apart and putting them back together.
• Likes to cut, paste, color and mold objects.
• Draws more actively.
• Can tie shoelaces.
• Development of permanent teeth.
• Enjoys conversation.
• Shows interest in reading. Recognizes sight and sounds of the letters of the alphabet.
• Learns sight words (frequently encountered words like go, the, to, and).
• Begins to decode words and may read simple books.
• Can count to at least 20 and tell when one number is bigger than another.
• Interested not only in specific places, but also in relationships between home, school, and the expanding community.
• Learning to distinguish left from right.
• Understands the concept of days of the week.
• Eager to learn and eager to please.
• Plays well in a group setting but wants to be first and is very eager to win. May be bossy.
• Becomes attached to the teacher.
• Shifts from one activity to another more easily. He or she is better able to put something away to complete later on.
• May have trouble making up his mind. Frequently shifts decisions back and forth.
• Being with friends becomes increasingly important.
• Enjoys simple board games that reinforce counting skills.